Invisible Man
by RavenAshford
Summary: After departing from her childhood home, Saige gets more than she bargains for in the next 7 years of her life. She never expected the Wasteland to be this crazy, and fun all the while. There's no place she'd rather be. The moody (but otherwise fun) people she meets cannot keep her down, as she explores the Wasteland with some companions, she finds their and her own true identity.
1. Chapter 1: Party In The Graveyard

_Pre-War Era_

Saige leaned against the wall of her high school, watching the prep girls gossiping over the other girls of the school and swooning over the boys, while glancing over to the nerd boys who were playing some advanced board game.

People-watching being her favorite past-time, she wasn't bored, but she could have something better to do with her time, if you would ask her.

People passed the violet-haired girl without so much as a glance, as if she was invisible in her pale blue sweater and long light pink skirt.

It wasn't her choice to wear it, but she did admit she looked nice in it.

She finally budged from her spot to walk towards the high school restrooms, only to find a mirror and fuss over her hair, brown highlights peeking out from under the violently violet hair.

She closed her eyes and gave a calm sigh, to assess the homecoming dance tonight, to only open them and stare back at herself, her own electric blue eyes piercing her soul, with refreshing brown spots near the pupils.

A flock of girls rushed into the restroom to check themselves before the dance, which was hours and hours away, as Saige fled the restroom quickly.

Her thoughts wandered to how she wasn't going with anyone, her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of going with a guy.

"Saige, are you alright? You don't look well." A concerned teacher put her hand on her shoulder, when Saige opened her eyes swiftly.

Her hands and face were sweaty, clammy almost, and a noticeable blush was present on her face.

"Y-Yeah, just peachy." Saige stammered, startled at anyone talking to her.

The teacher nodded and walked off in the direction of the teacher's lounge, the office also, when one of the more popular jocks passed by Saige, whistling like a wolf before turning around to face her, leaning against the locker.

"And just who are you, pretty lady? Because I've made it a personal challenge to make out with every beautiful girl in this school, and I don't quite remember you." The player smirked, looking Saige up and down degradingly, as Saige became offended and slapped the boy across the face.

"I don't know who you think you are, sir, but I am not a object of sex. Now if you don't mind keeping your hands in their respective joints, don't stare at my breasts again and let me go to class." Saige snapped, holding her penknife in her hand from quickly withdrawing it from her waist, as the group of boys let her through.

She rounded the corner with anger, from previously being peaceful and made her way to her locker before returning to English/Grammar class and grabbing a scarf.

October is chilly, and it went right past Saige with wonder why they were holding the homecoming in such cold weather when they knew girls would be wearing high heels and dresses that left nothing to the imagination.

"I swear, all this positivity in the middle of the war..." Saige sharply inhaled a nervous and shaky breath, trying to think of better thoughts to get her mind off it.

* * *

It's 9 o'clock to the dot, while Saige waved goodbye to her mother as she left the parking lot, thanking her for letting her come.

A cold chill ran up her back, giving her a shiver that ran up her spine, as more kids pulled up in limos with their dates, making Saige feel down.

_"Don't worry, you don't need anyone to have fun." _a small voice in her head tried cheering her up.

_"Perhaps, but I'd be having a lot more fun with someone else there to share it..." _Saige thought with her pessimistic attitude.

The custodian opened the doors, allowing the kids inside from braving the weather, as Saige's mouth couldn't help opening in amazement.

Balloons and sparkles decorated the gymnasium with tables set around for the couples, punch bowls near the left side of the sideline, and a stage near the front.

Her mind thought of one of her only friends, which wasn't a close one, whom was a class clown, which amused her to think that he'd try to preform comedy to lighten the mood of the night.

_"At least every student here will have fun tonight except for me. The thought of immediate death from bombing doesn't excite me much." _Saige stood near the entrance to the gym, not expecting anyone to ask her to dance all night.

She just was arguing with herself, and her only concern was this.

_"My god Saige, you never want to have fun. If you just dance and stop being awkward, you'll probably forget about the war for one goddamn second." _her voice rang back to her, encouraging her to go dance to the music playing.

_"No thanks, I bet that punch is spiked and every guy here is a pig." _Saige shook her head mentally, refusing to break to her own peer pressure.

Sometimes her determination and/or stubbornness was annoying to not only herself, but her teachers.

Her voice sighed with a hint of annoyance.

_"I swear, I can never get you to have fun. Your life is so depressing, Saige. Don't say I never tried when you're old and grey. You're too paranoid to be fun." _Her voice was getting annoying, so Saige stopped talking to it.

Mainly because another voice burst her bubble of thought.

"Hello, would you do me the pleasure of a dance?" said the voice, and the boy it belonged to looked nice.

He was dressed in a nice black tuxedo, holding his hand out at a bow, definitely a gentleman, surprising Saige such a type existed in this time and place.

"O-Of course." She stood, as he looked from her sweater, not her breasts although, to her skirt, and then to her face.

"You look simply beautiful tonight, my dear. May I ask your name?" his politeness just made Saige fall in love with how this boy wasn't a pig or even in the least bit messy.

Except for the untidy sleek black hair that didn't seem to go straight, even with all the hair gel that made it stand up.

"Saige. You?" She asked with a smile, holding her one free hand behind her back as the boy lead her to the dance floor slowly.

"Elliot, my dear." he smiled, lighting up his emerald eyes that seemed to shine more than the glitter among the gym.

"You aren't like most the boys here, Elliot. I appreciate that." Saige smiled back, chuckling at how he was just charming.

"Thank you, I try." Elliot chuckled, laughing along with her.

A slow song began soon, as Elliot placed his hand gently on her hip and the other out for her, as Saige placed hers around his neck and the other accepting his open hand, as they began to sway slowly to the tempo of the song.

Near the end of the homecoming night, Saige panicked at she thought of if she would ever meet this boy again, but was relieved quickly as she reminded herself the only ones allowed at the dance was students of this high school.

The night was never able to end, however, as bomber jets flew over the school, the students oblivious to the rushing noises over the sound of the music, the heat of the moment and the romance in the air.

Saige never got to live her special night, never got to finish her dance, and never got to live her normal life again.

At least, not the way she would want to.


	2. Chapter 2: Still Breathing

The violet haired lady's chest rose and fell in a calm manner, asleep in the bed without any knowledge of where she was or what year she's in.

Her eyes opened slowly at first, staring at the white ceiling before beginning to see where she was, and violently thrashed about, screaming horribly.

It took the two ghoul doctors and a human nurse to restrain the female stranger, as another ghoul rushed in quickly to see what the commotion was about.

"She's finally awake?" He asked as the human nodded quickly in his direction, still trying to calm down the lady.

"Where am I!? Please!? I need my mother!" The lady shrieked, tears pricking the edges of her eyes.

"Where is she?" The human nurse asked in a calm tone, trying to soothe the young lady, which worked to some degree.

"She's... at home. I'm about to graduate, class of 2054..." The lady took a deep breath in and a strong exhale out, trying to assess the situation, ignoring the physical difference between the ghouls and her, trying extremely hard to ignore their smell.

"It's 2277, dear. You've been in a coma quite a while. Your mother may be dead, not much of the population survived the War." She said in the same tone, while a Ghoul doctor interrupted.

"This is Winthrop, he and Willow brought you here when they found you in the Wasteland. I am Doctor Barrows, and this is my assisstant, Nurse Graves." He nodded in the direction of the ghoul who walked in earlier, who gave a small nod in her direction as well.

"This here is the Underworld, a safe haven, the only, for non-feral Ghouls. You're actually in the heart, or close to it, of Washington D.C." Winthrop gave a small smirk, proudly so it seemed, as he looked around the room, his eyes landing on a thin body on a table near the lady.

"And you are?" Nurse Graves asked, poking the girl with her finger.

"Saige." She spoke quickly, not wanting to leave the safe place she was in but wanting to find out if these... _people _were trustworthy.

"So what happened? Because I seemed to have missed years off my life." Saige sat up, not fighting back anymore but the Graves and Barrows had their hands ready in case.

"Short story or long story?" Doctor Barrows sighed, rolling his eyes as Winthrop leaned against the wall, in the manner of a little kid waiting to hear his favorite fairy tale.

"I've got forever, so long it is." Saige muttered, loud enough for the three to hear but was still slightly fearful of the surrounding people.

"Alright then. The Great War started and ended on Saturday, October 23, 2077 when nuclear weapons were launched by all the nuclear-capable nations; mainly from the United States, China and the USSR. The exchange lasted for bout two hours, according to most survivors' accounts. Once the last atomic bomb and nuclear warhead had fallen, the world fell into the deep darkness of a nuclear holocaust. The prelude went along the lines of this. So the world's fossil-fuels were dwindling to the point of no return. Of course, with the FF's disappearing, people started killing each other for them. The UN tried to stop the wars but... well, Greed is powerful and nobody wanted to listen. The Chinese invades Alaska and America invaded China. Sometime after this, someone had the brilliant idea to launch nukes and the vaults were filled with the test subjects, or so the family's that's that signed up for them. The vaults gave protection to those who saw it fit, or translated into those with loads of money that we could never dream of."

"Wow, that's... umm... Wow." Saige blinked in surprise at every word said, taking all the information in.

"I would say that's everyone's response, if we got someone like you everyday." Doctor Barrows said, not looking at Saige, cleaning off some dirty medical tools.

"My question is how you're going to survive out there in the Wasteland, a fragile little thing like you." Winthrop chuckled, as Doctor Barrows nodded in argument, a dark sense of humor arising.

"Then can I stay here with you all, learn how to survive before I go out there?" Saige blurted out, causing alarm and surprise to everyone throughout the room.

Everyone seemed silent until everyone seemed to look at Winthrop at once, and he shrugged.

"Why not, I guess." he then went off to attending more important things.

"We better get to patching her up." Nurse Graves said to Doctor Barrows, as he nodded, coming over to Saige and laying her down.

"You seem the decent doctor." Saige said nervously.

"Thanks. Now hold still, you don't want me to slip when holding sharp objects." Doctor Barrows laughed, making Saige feel in sudden danger before being put to sleep.

* * *

She awoke later in the same bed, her back sharp with pain and shaking with the new drugs that were injected into her veins, used stimpaks around the bed.

A groan emitted from Saige's lips as she sat up, feeling for bruises and new-forming scars.

"Don't go poking at the seams too much, they may fall apart. Wouldn't want to end up like Patchwork, would we?" Doctor Barrows gave a chuckle, as the human tilted her head from confusion.

"Who's Patchwork?" She asked, slightly scared from his name.

"Oh, you'll get to know him soon enough. Don't you worry." He gave a hearty laugh as Saige tried to stand up, as her vision blurred suddenly but came back almost as quickly as it went.

"What's with the blurriness just now?" Saige asked, holding a hand to the blinding light of the ceiling.

"That's an effect of the Wasteland, it's normal, so don't fuss over it. I admit, it does get annoying when you're trying to fend off Super Mutants, or saving your life from Deathclaws." Doctor Barrows turned around to examine the dead Feral ghoul on the table.

"Oh." was Saige's only response, feeling stupid about her question as Nurse Graves gave a half chuckle, half grunt.

"Hmph. Winthrop here will escort you around the Underworld to give you the feel about it. Normally we're wary of humans but we can't send you out there if you're not even aware of what has happened outside." Doctor Barrows sighed, waving us off with his hand as Winthrop walked at a relaxed pace ahead of Saige.

"I'm sure you'll become comfortable with this place, and with the smell. Don't mind us calling you smoothskin, we call all humans that. Over there is Carol's Place, and here is The Chop Shop. The Underworld Outfitters will set you up with more comfortable clothing than what you got there, and then..." Winthrop sighed in disappoint or, rather disappointment.

"The Ninth Circle. I'd avoid there, it's full of drunks and Jet-addicts. Then again, the only thing there is around here that's worth the caps is alcohol." Winthrop said first in a tone of disgust, before changing it to a light one.

"Explore all you like, but don't stir up trouble. Stop by the Outfitters first, tell them I sent you. They'll treat you nice."

"And the bathrooms?" Saige asked, not even blinking through the directions.

"Uhh... Over there. No one uses them so they're a bit... rancid." Winthrop trailed off discreetly.


	3. Chapter 3: Poor Unfortunate Soul

Saige tossed and turned terribly in her sleep, groaning and weeping from her dream.

_"N-No! I won't let you do this, the Enclave have no authority over this!" The girl screamed as scientists and those with powerful, bulky armor guarded the door to the room heavily, guns ready by their sides while the scientists were trying to sedate her. "We have all the authority we can want. These tests and experiments need to be done. Vault 87 cannot be retrieved for subjects." The blonde man explained, a wicked smile upon his face as he extracted some substance into a needle. The female squirmed more in her restraints, being deathly afraid of needles. This explains why she is afraid of Stimpaks, and is cautious to not get seriously injured or crippled. "This will only hurt a lot, Miss..." The man grinned, the name of the girl being fuzzy as she released a large, painful shriek. _

Saige sat up with sweat dripping from her forehead, panting from the terror pounding in her chest of the dream.

"These nightmares... They've been increasing since I've arrived here. Maybe I should ask Graves about them..." Saige sighed, feeling her heart slow down as she took excessively deep breaths.

While she was calming herself down, she failed to notice movement outside her curtains until the stranger had carelessly knocked down something fragile, as the sound of glass breaking had gotten Saige's heart pounding once again.

With more silence that scared her, Saige moved at a slow speed, trying to see what was happening outside her comfort zone.

_"It can't be Barrows or Graves, it's not too dark of them to not see around their own workspace. Maybe it would be Patchwork, if he hadn't tripped over a tile on the way in... Damn drunk..." _Saige told herself, trying so hard to calm down from her scares.

As her hands moved to whip the curtain open, she revealed nothing.

Whomever it was had escaped too quickly.

Considering that Barrows and Graves weren't up and about just, it wasn't time to get up yet, and with that, Saige went back to sleep, but not without another dream.

* * *

_"You have to go...! We can't have Mungos hanging around the place, stinking it up!" Mayor __MacCready sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stood in front of the gate leading into the Little Lamplight. __"__I understand, MacCready, but... you know me, you know I'm no Mungo!" The girl cried out, clenching her fists and keeping a straight but angry face. __The Mayor only seemed to get angrier as his eyebrows furrowed, his finger pointing to the outside world. The girl seemed to give up, turning her back to the small village as she took angry yet confident and elegant footsteps to the outside world, going to show her childhood friends that she could survive without them. It would only take a lot of hard work and some more growing up to do. "I guess I should head to Bigtown first, it's been forever since Red has visited..._

* * *

Saige woke up in the morning, finding herself to less scared but more cautious that day, going to see Doctor Barrows about letting her out from her last run-in.

"Hey Barrows, can I go wandering around again?" Saige poked her head in the door, as Barrows gave a grunt that sounded like a yes, and she ran off into Carol's Place.

"Hey Carol!" Saige said with a bright smile, as Carol returned it with a positive greeting.

"Hello Saige, will you be wanting some refreshments today?" she smiled, nodding towards Greta.

"Nah, I'm good. Barrows just let me out and about this morning since last time." the violet haired girl leaned on the counter.

"You really should be more careful, dear Saige. We can't afford to have a dead smoothskin lying around." Carol gave a motherly tone, warning her.

"I know, I know, I just want to have some fun since I can't go outside yet." Saige carelessly said, making Carol feel uncomfortable and awkward.

"Have you been having those dreams lately?" Carol asked, lowering her voice and slightly changing the subject.

"Yes, actually. I had two of them last night, as a matter of fact." Saige sensed her feelings and lowered her voice as well.

"The usuals, or...?" she trailed off, letting Saige pick up.

"The first one, yeah. The ones of the scientists? And the second was one I've only had one other time. Some guy was telling me to leave and I refused at first before I gave up and left angrily, the bastard was a little kid or something..." Saige shrugged, as Carol looked to be in her own thoughts.

"I don't know about that one. You do have an aura of mystery about you, Saige. I know you mean well, but ever since your arrival here, other Ghouls have become suspicious of you, skeptical." Carol sounded worried, glancing over to Mister Crowley and then to Quinn.

"Don't worry about them, Carol. I'm not afraid of them." Saige declared quickly, her confidence getting the best of her.

"But _I_ am. I'm surprised your ego can fit in this room, and it'll be the death of you one day, just you watch." Carol seemed to choke on her tears, and tried to recover herself as a regular walked in.

"Hello Carol, do you know where Greta is?" he asked in his raspy voice, as Carol nodded towards the other room.

"Yes, she's just sweeping. Feel free to get something." She said, before returning to talk to Saige.

"Do stop by again sometime!" Carol waved Saige off as she went off to get some more excitement.

She walked around calmly before she looked around for anyone to see her, and sneaked off into the Ninth's Circle, carelessly thinking it was The Chop Shop.

"Hot damn..." Saige muttered as the stench of alcohol and smoke hit her nostrils, realizing she wasn't anywhere near where she had intended to be.

The Ninth Circle was the only place in the Underworld she was forbidden to be, by her own self and by Winthrop.

_Better today than never to break the rules._


	4. Chapter 4: Absolute

**A/N: Herro guys, I just am here to say that right now I have all chapters up to chapter 11 done, but I'm releasing the chapters in a four day or longer span of each other just for the heck of it. You know, to keep you guys on your toes. Just wanted to let you know that I do have the chapters already written ^-^**

* * *

Saige looked around herself cautiously as if she were surrounded by molerats, as she noticed the signs of Jet addictions around her.

She made her way towards a seat at the counter before she noticed someone standing by himself, looking like he was wasting time.

_"A bouncer? Here?" _Saige thought it to be strange for someplace in the Underworld to have a bouncer, it's not like anyone important was here.

"Excuse me, I-" Saige began to spoke, as the seemingly brute looked down at her, seeming to be surprised anyone, much less a smoothskin like Saige, would be talking to him.

"Talk to Ahzrukhal." He said plainly, continuing to look straight ahead, ignoring Saige's presence or failing to acknowledge she was there.

"I just-" she tried to speak again, as he interrupted her once again.

"Talk. To. Ahzrukhal." he spoke in a annoyed and fed-up tone, as Saige made her way back to the counter seat from that detour.

"Well now, lookee here. We got us a smoothskin what I ain't ever seen before. I'm Ahzrukhal, and this... this is the Ninth Circle." a ghoul who seemed greasy like a pre-war car salesman walked over to Saige, making her feel uncomfortable.

"And just who are you?" she growled, glaring daggers at the guy.

"Me? I am Ahzrukhal, owner of this small slice of the Underworld." He grinned, as if he was proud.

"_You're _Ahzrukhal!?" she scoffed, but decided to butter him up if it would get her a free drink.

"You got a problem with it?" he seemed offended, and Saige remembered where she was.

Surrounded by drunks and a bouncer, whom looked like he could beat the shit out of some small little girl like Saige.

"No, not at all. I just didn't expect you to be so... business-like." She wanted to say 'charming', but her lungs wouldn't allow her to say such a large lie.

It would've made her vomit, and that it was such an unconvincing lie.

"Well, you can use your honeyed words but you'll have to pay full caps for drinks." Ahzrukhal frowned, giving a laugh of victory at her defeat.

_"Dammit..." _she thought, but keep a straight face.

"Fine, give me a shot of whiskey." she sighed, setting thirty-seven caps down.

He seemed excited at this and gave a 'tsk-tsk' noise.

"If you wants shots, you'll have to bump it up to fifty-seven." Saige growled at this and set twenty more down in resentment, taking the shot glass and downing it before Ahzrukhal could even look away.

"You have drinks before?" He asked, an eyebrow would be raised if there were any to speak of.

"Not particularly." She sighed, recalling Barrows and Graves telling her what happened when she woke up about a year ago.

"I didn't get your name, it's not polite for me to introduce myself to a stranger, especially a new customer." his greasy attitude was back.

"Well consider me a stranger no more, the name's Saige." She growled as she accepted another glass, unbeknowst to her that the Ghoul bouncer behind her flinched, shifting in his position from hearing her name.

"Ahh, you're that smoothskin girl..." He trailed off, now his expression being confusing and unreadable by Saige.

"I haven't seen any other humans so..." She looked away awkwardly.

"Oh, we get smoothskin visitors, you just don't see them. We figure they wouldn't take kindly to seeing a small child running amongst 'zombies'. You're safer right here than anywhere else, trust me on that." Ahzrukhal chuckled, and then gave a serious tone, glancing over to the bouncer.

"I meant to ask you, who's that guy in the corner?" Saige nodded in his direction.

"Oh, that's Charon. Let's just say... well, he's a loyal employee. Don't mess with me, and he won't mess with you." Ahzrukhal seemed to growl, feeling like Saige was endangering him.

"He's a loyal employee? What do you mean?" Saige raised an eyebrow, thinking he meant Charon was his slave or something.

"I hold his contract, which makes me his employer. He will do what I ask when I ask, without question. You see, Charon grew up around a very interesting group of individuals. They... well, I guess you could say that they brainwashed him. He is absolutely loyal to whomever holds his contract. Unfailing, unflinching, until the day that employment ends. Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that he holds no end of animosity towards me. But song long as he is my employee, he is as gentle as a teddy bear." He grinned, seeming to be proud of the explanation, by his tone, and this made Saige sick to her stomach that someone could be this evil.

"Hmm... How about 1000 caps for his contract?" Saige asked, as Ahzrukhal gave a hearty laugh, throwing his head back.

"You're kidding, right? Come back when you have a serious offer." he laughed, wheezing and coughing from his laughter, tears would flow if they could.

Saige furrowed her eyebrows from this belittling of her offer, and gave a grunt.

She then made another vow to herself that she would free Charon of his employment of this evil bastard.

_"Then I'd be proud for you to have this back." _Saige thought to herself, picturing herself throwing the rest of her probably spiked drink onto the weasel, but then remembered how Charon was the bodyguard.

"I am serious, but just you watch." Saige growled under her breath, throwing back the last of her drink and leaving for the doors to go find one of her friends to rant to.

Before she exited the doors, she turned around and gave a smirk to Ahzrukhal.

"Do you know the best way to a man's heart?" Saige asked, holding back her own laughter at her joke.

"Through his stomach?" Ahzrukhal guessed with no interest in the answer, cleaning shot glasses with an annoyed look on his face.

"No, between the fourth and fifth rib." Saige gave a laugh, thinking it was quite clever, though gruesome.

With those last words, she gave a glance at Charon, who was just looking straight ahead like he was on Jet himself (she didn't doubt this but had a sinking feeling of hope that he was), and left the Ninth Circle.


	5. Chapter 5: I Can Go The Distance

**A/N: I had this whole chapter typed out and was ready to publish it, but somehow it wiped everything I had typed for this chapter from the 460 words+ and I had to retype this, it's not as good and long as the original chapter was but this was all the basics that I had remembered aside from the little details of dialogue I'd forgotten, I apologize. I added some new things to fatten up this chapter... I think this revised chapter came out better than before~**

* * *

Saige went into the outside room of the Underworld, with the pre-war museum still on display, and watched the world outside the doors move, going to sit on top of the dinosaur and watch Quinn off to be nice, when Winthrop surprisingly joined her.

"See ya later, Quinn. I'll have some caps ready to trade you when you get back." he smirked as Quinn left through the Underworld doors, and he turned to the small girl.

"Well Saige, you've been here for the past two _**[or one]**_ years. We think we should ask you if you want to go outside to travel." Winthrop shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal, but that soon faded when he saw the excitement from his sentence in Saige's blue eyes.

"Hell yeah I want to! You know how much I do!" Saige grinned, and Winthrop returned that same grin with a pat on her back.

"Well go get you some armor from the Outfitters and we'll see you off. Like I've told you, be careful of eating too much food and always stay supplied with RadAway, everything out there has radiation." Winthrop warned as Saige gave him a annoyed head shake.

"I know, I know, you've told me for months now. I'll be fine, the least of my worries is the radiation." She grinned, letting him now she was being playful, hinting at the Super Mutants that were practically waiting outside the Underworld's door and the Deathclaws that roamed the Wasteland.

Saige bought some reinforced leather armor from Tulip, handing her the caps and going to get it fitted on.

"What do ya think?" Saige asked, turning around and noticing that the medium armor was quite heavy, but not as heavy as the metal armor that was on display.

"Looks great. Don't worry about the weight, you won't even notice it soon enough. It'll feel just like a second skin." Winthrop said, looking through some stuff for himself, inconspicuously trying to look for scrap metal.

"I sure hope so..." Saige muttered, fitting the shoulder armor on and pounding her fist against her own arm.

"Study, to say the least." She pointed out, going to the female restrooms to fit on the leg armor.

"Yeah, no kidding." Someone who just walked into the Outfitters commented, whom Saige couldn't recognize.

Saige fastened the leather straps around her thighs and knees, starting to think of ways she could earn 1000+ caps to free Charon.

Surprisingly, she hadn't forgotten about releasing him from his hell with Ahzrukhal, when she forgot what she had for breakfast this morning.

It may have been Mole Rat Meat... right?

Saige left to the restrooms to try the armor she had received on, fastening the leather straps around her leg to the best of her ability.

As she was doing this, she attached the shoulder armor, as her thoughts wandered to other things.

_"Now that you're finally able to leave, you don't want to go, do you? You don't know what you're expecting of yourself, but you want to be great. You want to surpass your own expectations, and no one else's. There is no one out there you know, no one you're familiar with. And that just scares the shit out of you." _Saige's conscious condescended itself, as it only allowed Saige to have a larger grin, to her own dismay.

_"You know what? You may think I'm not all that, but I can prove you wrong with enough hard work. Just you watch, I'll become a damn beacon of light and hope to these Wastelanders soon enough." _she walked out feeling confident and a fire burning deep in her lungs, motivating her more to leave the Underworld and make something of her own outside the run-down museum she's been confined to.

"Well?" Saige asked a non-interested Winthrop, whom was checking around Tulip's supply still for scrap metal.

The ventilation pipes were getting rusty, he told her, but she didn't believe this fib, as she could breath just fine, and that was coming from a human.

"Yeah, it looks good," he glanced back, doing a double-take as he moved towards her legs.

"Except for this." he fixed the straps around her ankle, re-fastening them and patting her legs, going towards the entrance to see her off.

Saige made a run for it, her heart pounding from excitement, she couldn't take another night in this home.

"What about your weapon!?" Winthrop growled after her, as she stopped in her tracks and came back like a stubborn little puppy with its tail between its legs.

"I forgot..." Saige muttered, refusing with all her pride to admit it at an audible level.

"What do you want?" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his non-existent nose.

"A Hunting Rifle! No... An Assault rifle? Wait... Argh! How about both? Plenty of ammo too," Saige rambled on suddenly, wanting the weapons she did want but remembering she didn't know how to handle them.

_"Gotta start somewhere, I suppose. I'll learn with enough practice, I can't be shooting Mole Rats and Radroaches my whole life. Especially not down here." _Saige groaned to herself and spoke again.

"I'll pay you back!" she called after a tired Winthrop, who was walking back into the Outfitters to get the mentioned weapons.

Saige waited outside, wanting to bounce her head off the water fountain and end it all before she even left out of stupidity.

_"You idiot! Now Charon will have to wait longer to be freed with these expenses! I swear, you'll die within two weeks out there in the Wasteland..." _Saige yelled at herself mentally, hating how absent-minded she always was.

The only reason Winthrop got her weapons because Saige promised her his weight in scrap metal AND caps, later on, as he returned with sufficient ammo and the weapons.

Saige fitted the Assault Rifle behind the back, the Hunting Rifle going into her inventory.

"Well, time to see you off then, Saige." he said without emotion, looking around for the smoothskin girl, annoyed at how Saige was acting today, and it wasn't any better when he noticed Saige had seated herself near that god-forsaken radio with that nut screaming on the channel.

"I don't see how you can stand to listen to that 'Four Wolf' or whatever." he sighed.

"It's Three Dog, and it's the only outlet of news beside Quinn of what's going on outside." Saige shrugged, not being obsessed with the GNR radio station much but angry that he thought she was.

"You know what's happening is filtered through his views and beliefs, right?" Winthrop wanted to see her be angry with him, as he wanted to see it fit that there was an argument before Saige left.

"You know that I'm capable of sorting through the lies and the truth myself, right?" Saige mocked his sentence, leaving for the doors, as Winthrop watched her leave with a grin.

* * *

"I swear..." Saige groaned under her breath at Winthrop, seeing Willow patrol the outside of the Underworld.

"Hey Willow!" Saige waved over to her, as she turned around with her, her weapon in hand.

"Hello Saige... You're finally out and about now?" She smirked, looking around as she talked.

"Yup!" She brightened up from Winthrop's anger trip.

"Good luck with those Super Mutants." her small lips curled into a smirk, seeing Saige's dismay in her face.

Fear quickly pounded in Saige's heart as she realized that Super Mutants were the neighbors of the Underworld, her face flushing.

She crouched quickly near the entrance to the Underworld, cursing and trying to find ways to kill herself on the spot.

_"Saige, you fucking idiot, you have wasted many nights staying up and thinking of strategy to get past the Super Mutants when this time comes, and now you just threw it all away because you got too excited and forgetful! I cannot believe you!" _Saige put herself down, trying to make sure the Super Mutants hadn't heard her yet.

_"I need to just make a run for it, it'll be easy enough and those guys over there have Miniguns so I'll be fine from the Super Mutants, I should be and OH MY FUCK JUST HELP ME JESUS." _Saige became hysterical with her thoughts, wanting to just go back inside and cry.

She then remembered her confidence earlier and stood up, straightening up and thinking how easy this would be if she just put her mind to it.

"Bye Willow!" She yelled back, as she had already summoned all the strength in her body and placed it into her legs, running faster than she ever thought possible.

The nearby Super Mutants took notice to something small moving and began shooting at it, a couple running towards it with their sledgehammers.

The humans, however, started shooting back as the human they originally were attacking joined them, and eventually all were dead.


	6. Chapter 6: Hard Out Here

Saige panted, her hands on her knees and doubled over into the walls of the Washington Memorial, trying to catch her breath from the horror.

It hadn't occurred to her how close she actually was from death just then.

"Who are you?" One of the men asked, the two of them both holding large Miniguns.

"S-Saige..." she sighed, clutching her chest in her hands from the shock.

There was a silence between Saige and the men, as Saige suddenly broke out in the same confidence she had before.

"And you guys are?" She asked, looking at their strange armor and how it seemed massively heavy.

"We're recruits of The Brotherhood of Steel." one of them said, still looking down at Saige like she a measly fire ant.

"Ahh..." She said, the name having no meaning to her.

"And your importance here is...?" the other one finally spoke, seeming to be meaner than the other man, if possible.

"I... I'm just wandering about?" Saige said, it being half true anyway and that she wasn't that stupid to tell them the truth.

She, however, wasn't aware how bizarre it sounded for a small girl of her age to be wandering around the Capital Wasteland and live.

"Pretty dangerous place to be wandering." the second one smirked, his finger tracing around the trigger gingerly, as to arise fear in Saige.

"So I noticed." Saige shot at him, looking cautiously at the direction the barrel was pointing at all times.

"You should probably get going." he threatened as Saige scooted away, looking around the Wasteland D.C. as she walked, sad that the paradise she pictured outside wasn't as she pictured.

The buildings were a disaster, falling down and apart in wear and tear.

"These colors that you're shining off surely aren't your best..." Saige placed her hand against the cold wall of an old building, most likely an elementary school or even a middle school judging from the desks and lockers that were torn apart from within.

"Was I...?" Saige thought aloud, looking into the desks but angered when they would not open.

"Was I in this school before the bombing...?" Saige wondered, before an idea came to her mind and rushed to where her lunchroom had been, and noticed a small crumpled piece of paper in the wreckage of some Nuka-Cola machines.

She smiled softly as she stared down at it, a tear falling down her face and onto the paper, saturating right through.

_"Hey Saige, I don't think I can tell you think in person because of how nervous I'd get, and I want you to think I'm the coolest. But I, your best friend, Reggie, ask you to the prom dance. You and I both know well that I'm an asshole at times, but you've grown on me over the past 6 years of our friendship. I think you're funny, cute and there's the factor that you are not afraid to kick some ass (all those not as much as me ;]) I want to show you one night on this freaking Earth that you shouldn't have to worry about those bombs dropping over top of our school, which they won't. Hope you'll say yes, and if not, I understand. Not everyone (as hard as it is to believe) likes my charms and pranks." _

Saige rolled her eyes with a grin, putting the paper into her pocket and closing her eyes, trying to bring back the sounds of low roars that used to ring in these halls at noon.

"I would've said yes, if you were there that night, you idiot... I expected you to be an idiot and show up doing stand up comedy or something." Saige chuckled, wiping away her tears with her vault 101 sleeve.

It then hit her that everyone was probably dead by now, even if the pathetic kids had survived the bombing.

_"But why are you so special to have survived, Saige? Did you really go to high school in the pre-war times? If so, how did you survive for 200+ years without aging or dying? If the school was here, how did you end up in front of the Underworld? It just doesn't fit, you refuse to open your eyes and see it. Don't act like I aka you haven't thought about these things before." _Saige argued with herself once more, giving up trying to argue with her logical side.

It's true that not everything fit, but there had to be some explanation, she knew it. Everyone had existed, they had to.

Once Saige had gathered the 2,000 caps, she needed to pay a detour visit to Winthrop and demand the actual story from him, if he knew it.

"I can't bother myself with these trival things, I gotta get some caps somehow to pay off Ahzrukhal and Winthrop..." Saige growled, gripping her head in frustration, trying to rip her hair out from the roots but remembered the ghoul's hair and decided that wasn't very fashionable.

Saige sat on top of the ruined desks, which Mr. Stagstill never allowed them to do, and tried to think of occupations in the Wasteland that could earn her quick caps.

"Courier? Perhaps, I'll have to keep that open... No way am I to be an assassin, I heard about those Talon Merc guys, agh... I'm not that desperate to take a life..." Saige went through occupations aloud, crossing most of them out when she realized her body type and personality would rendered her useless in these situations.

"I can't... I don't... I'm sorry Charon, I can't think of anything to help you." Saige sighed, laying back of the desk and positioning her head on a locker lodged in debris behind her.

"Okay, let's go." Saige jumped up, running out of the wreckage of her old school and across the Wasteland, finding herself in Megaton and starting a unique caravan.

Within a week, Saige had gathered 3,000 caps, plenty enough money to pay back Winthrop _**and **_free Charon, with enough money left over for herself.

It was time to take some time out of her journey and visit home, if not for a little while.


	7. Chapter 7: 50 Ways To Say Goodbye

Saige burst through the doors of the Underworld, running past familiar faces of ghouls, Winthrop being among them as he yelled past her.

"Saige! What the hell are you doing back here?" yelled Winthrop, causing Saige to growl as she ran, having no time to stop and catch up with Winnie.

Besides, he'd probably say she returned because she was too chicken and didn't like the Wasteland.

She threw open the doors of the Ninth Circle with confidence, not even glancing at Charon as she walked past him to walk up to Ahzrukhal's counter.

"Don't you look absolutely... miserable. Pull up a stool and lay down a few caps, and tell Uncle Ahzrukhal all about it." he opened his arms as if to give Saige a hug, as Saige didn't even give him a facial expression besides a neutral one.

"I want to talk to you about Charon's contract." Saige said, scratching her face without a change in her tone of voice, although lowered to only Ahzrukhal and Saige's audibility.

"I knew you'd change your mind. Just remember, Charon is a valuable asset to me and he doesn't come cheap. Are you ready to deal?" he smirked, doubting Saige still had the sufficient caps.

"Yeah, yeah, shut your mouth before I put a cap in your ass." She glared at him, shelling out and throwing down 2,000 caps onto the counter out of her bag, seeing Ahzrukhal's eyes positively glow. He would've made a comment on how he could call Charon for such a threat, but the caps distracted his tongue from speech.

"I'll give you 2,000 caps for it." Saige smirked, as Ahzrukhal went to grab it and she placed her hand over the pile.

"Not one cap is yours until the contract is in my hand." She frowned, as Ahzrukhal shrugged and handed it over.

"I suppose that could work... yes. Yes... here's the contract. And I'll take my payment in full. I'll give you the pleasure of informing Charon yourself." Ahzrukhal grumbled, placing the caps into his bag and walking off to fill up and place out some more shot glasses.

Saige remembered with disgust the first glass of alcohol she had was some whiskey shots from this same bar quite a few months back, when she was still living here permanently as she walked over to the pitiful bouncer in the counter, still in the same position that Saige remembered first seeing him.

"Talk to-" Charon began, as Saige grinned and put a finger to his withered lips, standing on her toes.

"Slow down there. I have good news. I'm your new employer." Saige smiled, more of a excited grin really, watching the disbelief in Charon's widening eyes.

"You purchased my contract from Ahzrukhal? So, I am no longer in his service. That is good to know. Please, wait here. I must take care of something." Charon smiled at Saige, or she could've swore he did, as he walked past her politely but with excitement glinting in his eyes.

He tried to not seem too eager in his footing as he approached Ahzrukhal at the counter where he was giving a patron a glass of whiskey, where the snake smiled evilly and looked up at him like a kid leaving home for the first time.

"That's right, Charon. Have you come to say goodbye?" Ahzrukhal said in a childish little baby tone, rolling his eyes with a grin at his evil nature to turn away and clean some glasses.

"Yes." Charon only said, holding back his grin that was obvious, quickly taking out his combat shotgun and shooting Ahzrukhal in the back of the head, causing it to pop off and roll over to Saige.

She covered her mouth to keep from screaming, but it was a scream of joy instead of horror, considering how much of an evil bastard Ahzrukhal was.

Charon shot Ahzrukhal's corpse once more to only be sure he was dead and turned around to face his new employer, shotgun back on his back as quickly as he turned around.

"Alright, let's go." he gleefully said, as Saige removed her hand to give a small smile.

"Whoa! What the fuck was that!" She kept staring at the corpse, along with everyone else in the bar, making Charon seem pleased as a peach.

"Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard. So long as he held my contract, I was honor bound to do as he commanded. But now you are my employer, which freed me to rid the world of that disgusting rat. And now, for good or ill, I serve you." Charon said, making Saige feel at least a little bit better.

When she was here last time, Charon stared her down like she was the worst thing in the world, but now realized he had to look at everyone like that or else Ahzrukhal would probably question and/or beat him.

"Oh my god! He shot Ahzrukhal!" some female ghoul exclaimed in horror.

"I... I thought Charon liked Ahzrukhal!" a male ghoul whispered to his buddy at the counter, to which Charon glared at him over his shoulder, and Saige wanted to make a hurry to get the hell out of dodge.

"Oh my god, is he dead?" someone asked, just as Saige left to make her want to facepalm.

"'Bout time someone did that." Another male ghoul agreed, making Saige and no doubt Charon feel they did one good deed in their life.

Once outside the Ninth's Circle, Saige turned around to face Charon directly, looking him in the eyes as he did the same, although he seemed... not worried, tense or nervous but... he was shaky, similar to cautious but... Saige couldn't describe it whatsoever.

"Charon, do you mind if we take a detour while we're here?" Saige asked, as Charon shrugged.

"Being that your the employer, I don't have much of a say in it, now do I?" Charon gave his snide remark as Saige bit the inside of her cheek in approval and disapproval.

"I suppose not." She only said as she began walking, running down the worn steps to find Winthrop.

* * *

"Winthrop, you ugly bastard!" Saige yelled to get his attention to the male ghoul, whom was just about to enter The Chop Shop, his hand on the doorknob.

"Huh?" he muttered to himself, turning around to find himself face to face with the short, violet-haired girl he was familiar with.

"Oh, it's you Saige. Yeah, what do you want?" he asked in boredom, his hand still on the doorknob, waiting for a cue that the conversation was over.

"Well, I hope you're not wanting to go see Barrows or Graves anytime soon because I'm hauling your ass to your office." Saige crossed her arms stubbornly, as Winthrop was still confused.

"And why is that?" he asked with the same stubbornness.

"Just C'MON!" Saige groaned, grabbing Winthrop's free hand and dragging him away, to his surprise.

_Well I'll be damned if she got stronger out in that Wasteland... _Winthrop smirked to himself, thinking that would be something that would never happen.

"So, what's the deal?" Winthrop asked, hopping onto his terminal with half an ear's attention open to Saige.

"I want to know the truth about me. I never went to a high school in pre-war Washington D.C. had I? I never made the friends I know I made, did I?" Saige asked, her hands in fists as she shut her eyes, fighting back the tears she knew would come.

In no hell nor Earth would Saige ever let Winthrop see her weep.

Winthrop turned to face her at the sound of her shaky voice, taken aback by the shape Saige was in.

This was the first time Winthrop was able to actually look at her since she had left.

Her innocent face was covered in dirt and grime, small cuts and scars littered the patches of skin that were visible in the armor she still wore, the armor Winthrop had gotten that short while ago, come to think of it.

Winthrop suddenly had thought about the money he owed her, but thought this was a bad time.

Charon had been ordered to wait outside, and was getting suspicious by the faint dialogue he heard transpiring from inside Winthrop's office, readying his shotgun in case he needed it.

"Just tell me the goddamned truth, and I'll leave." Saige opened her eyes, and instead of the fun electric blue eyes Winthrop was used to seeing pertaining to competitive concerns, only now he saw only eyes similar to that of a storm, a lightning storm.

Saige had grown to be a true Wastelander, to not be timid like previously.

And this scared the shit out of the repair ghoul.


	8. Chapter 8: Nobody's Home

**A/N: I just wanted to say this in case no one has noticed, but every single chapter name has been the name of a song (from my playlist or otherwise), and always will be so keep an eye out if you recognize one ;) And also, I wrote chapters 7 and 8 on the same day, finished them and also finished chapter 6 today also. Three freaking chapters on the same day. I must either be dedicated to this fanfic (of course I am, it's pretty good if you ask me) or I must have plenty of inspiration. I just need a trophy, but enough of listening to me, get on to reading the fanfic! ^-^**

* * *

Saige kept staring at Winthrop with somewhat determination, a look he never thought he would see out of the girl he once knew.

He didn't even know who she was anymore, frankly.

"If you don't know, just tell me you don't so I can stop wasting my time. I don't have unlimited time on my hands anymore, if you can get that through your thick, rotting skull. I have a life out in the Wasteland. I need to go quit my caravan anyways." Saige sighed, relaxing slightly at the thought of leaving here and having a refreshing drink at Moriarty's Saloon back in Megaton.

"Wait, Saige... I..." Winthrop paused, debating with himself whether or not he should tell her.

Of course he wanted her to live her life without being burdened with this knowledge, but if she ever found out, she would blame him for not telling her. Besides, she would want to know.

"Yes?" Saige looked over her shoulder, facing the door, revealing the back of her dirty leather armor he had only bought months before.

"Please have a seat. I'll explain it all, to my fullest knowledge." Winthrop tone dripped with pity, and Saige was worried.

Winthrop was always a bitter rival of Saige, and for him to seem sad and pitiful worried her.

She, however, didn't show this is any shape or form.

* * *

"Okay, here's what I know of," Winthrop started, giving time for Saige to pucker up her ears and listen closely.

After all, her entire past has been a lie and she sure as hell wants to hear about it.

"You were born somewhere in the Wasteland but your parents must've died, I don't know the basics of even that. I do know though that you were found and handed over to the Little Lamplight, where little kids just colonize and live until they turn 16, and they have to leave because they've come of age. From what I know, you were traveling to Big Town, but having never traveled there prior, you got lost easily and then you were found by the Enclave. This is never a good thing. Curious question, do you seem to get joint pains or aches repeatedly? Barrows told me to ask." Winthrop explained, leaning over his desk with his elbow and chin in his hand.

Saige nodded, thinking this a strange question. "Yes... why?"

"Oh nothing. Barrows and Graves both agreed that is because of the couple years of experimentation they did on you. It'll wreak havoc on your body for the rest of your life, especially whenever your critically older, that is, if you live to be that old." Winthrop shrugged it off.

Saige had actually never thought about her future, she was a more 'in-the-now' person than anything else. Besides, if anything does go wrong, she'll just deal with the consequences of time, it's not that big of a deal. It's a just a small setback, and setbacks are manageable.

"And?" Saige asked, her attention glancing off to the posters Saige has seen a million and one times before when she sneaks into Winthrop's office to look through his terminal.

"And if you let me finish..." Winthrop growled, glaring at Saige for a few seconds before continuing his tale.

"The Enclave had done nasty experiments on you, testing how radiation affected different parts of the body directly and such, but anyway. You escaped and most likely collapsed from exhaustion and the heat. I can imagine so, you traveled literally across the entire Wasteland, the Enclave base is opposite of the Wasteland to us. Willow found you outside and you know the rest, we never lied to you about that." Winthrop looked like he was truly spilling his heart out to Saige.

"There, you got what you want." Winthrop stood up, recollecting himself and returning to his usual snippy attitude, towards Saige at least.

Saige looked shell-shocked, her eyes unreadable but mouth hung open, waiting for a fly to just dive in.

"Before you go, how is Greta?" Saige grinned mischievously, causing Winthrop to fluster and just leave in grumbles.

Saige met Charon outside, with a grin on her face and Charon having a neutral expression.

"How did things go?" He asked, as Saige just shrugged, her grin retreating to a smirk.

"Good, actually. Learned some new stuff about me I didn't know before." Saige summarized the last half an hour and made a hot skip out of the Underworld, saying hello to Quinn as she left and he entered the Underworld.

Quinn seemed to give Charon the stink eye, as if he knew Charon.

Before the two left, Saige could've sworn she saw Quinn whisper something to Charon and he didn't seem to take it well, considering he wanted to hurry out of the place quickly.

* * *

Saige groaned from the heat in the Wasteland, almost outside of D.C. completely and glad for it, as the tired violet-head threw back her head to drink the last of a bottle of dirty water.

Charon grunted, to which Saige ignored as this was common within the last hour they'd been traveling.

Saige's thoughts had been replaying what Winthrop said, and whether or not it had been true.

From the look he'd been giving her, she would say so but she knew better than to trust anything Winthrop said.

He wasn't as bad as Ahzrukhal but still.

For fuck's sake, he gave her some pre-war poison and it almost killed her! Barrows had a fit of it, and a field day too, in Graves's opinion.

Her faith was restored, however, when she noticed a fellow Wastelander and ran over to him without a second thought of him being a raider or belonging to Talon Merc.

"Sir! Are you a doctor?" Saige waved him down as he stopped, in disbelief someone could be this stupid and/or naive in the Wasteland.

He nodded his head slowly, cautious as to if the lady had consumed any drugs lately, or just a whole lot of wine, vodka or beer.

"Sorry to give you a big job, it'll probably do you good from getting rusty, but..." Saige trailed off, poking her right leg.

"I have a crippled leg and I'm just glowing with radiation. Five or six Stimpaks wouldn't hurt either, if you got any medical supplies." Saige blabbered, as the man eagerly showed her his wares.

"I'll take these." Saige threw her caps into the man's bag and took the stimpaks, paying for them and the healing of her limbs and rads.

"Just lay still and I should be able to fix this. If not, it's nothing duct tape can't fix..." he said as Saige's vision went black, and she relaxed from going under.

When she awoke from her slumber, Saige was greeted with some strange news.

"When I was fixing your leg, I found this on the back of your thigh..." the stranger awkwardly poked Saige's thigh, making her feel like she might as well be a prostitute from where he was touching her, and then realized she didn't feel him poke her.

"What is it?" She asked with concern, her eyes widening in fear.

Was there a radscorpion stinger stuck in her? _Oh good lord, I haven't even been out in the Wasteland for an hour! I need some mother-effing help, for real... _Saige groaned at her panic attack.

"Well, first there's a tattoo you have. Not sure if it was intentional but... It has an 'E' with stars surrounding it, pretty sure it's the Enclave logo unless you're part of a cult or something. Then right at the center of the tattoo, there's a hard, square object. The Enclave have been known to put tracking devices on people..." The man explained, as Saige became suspicious.

"Are you with the Enclave?" She asked him, as he seemed to stare at Saige like she was stupider than she was.

"Are you kidding? It takes a lot of hard work to join them-" The man said, as Saige withdrew her Hunting Rifle and shot the man three times in the head.

"You are, should've just answered it right the first time. Too slow to respond a simple yes, than to make up a lie slowly." Saige sighed, looting his body for more water.


	9. Chapter 9: Nearly There

Saige gave Charon some crap from being over-encumbered to carry so she could continue running and wreaking havoc across the Wasteland, to which didn't need help in speeding up that process.

"Can we slow down, for just a little while?" Charon asked calmly, trying to catch up to an impossibly drunk Saige, whom had just discovered the effects of alcohol, more so rum, on the human body.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Saige asked at the top of her lungs, suddenly becoming deaf from the large amounts she consumed.

Charon sighed and wanted to facepalm, but that would be too stupid, even for him. He almost wished to be back at the Ninth's Circle with Ahzrukhal but then regretted that thought as soon as he... well, thought it.

Saige kept running and running, and running until...

BAM.

Saige had ran into a wall, just wandering around and discovering locations so she would know where everything was. Her favorite past-time.

"You really ought to be more careful, you know-" Charon sighed, knowing Saige couldn't hear him from his distance but muttered anyway. Saige was only a purple dot from his distance anyway.

* * *

BAM.

Something had hit the side of the shack that the male ghoul had been living in, as he was about to take a tantalizing sip of rum, he grumbled as he sat his bottle down.

It had probably been Jelly Bean running into the side of the shack, requesting more food. She was smart that way.

The man stood up from his relaxing chair, his hopes of just having a day to drink his rum vanished, but a chance to shoot something made it all the better.

Now he hoped it had been a raider instead of Jelly Bean.

Time to find out.

* * *

While Charon was scolding Saige without much care, Saige retaliated by rubbing her head, holding it mostly and whining without much remorse for what Charon was saying.

In the midst of their argument, another male ghoul stepped out of the shack with drink in hand and a sniper rifle in the other.

"Shut it now, will you? Sound like an old married couple..." The man grumbled as he threw back his head for a drink of rum, making Saige's eyes pop at the sight of the bottle.

The first thing either Charon and Saige noticed was the ghoul's unusually pink hair, and Saige went to comment on it when the ghoul gave her a dangerously grave glare, which made her stop while she was ahead.

"What's up with the hair?" She asked, as the ghoul withdrew his sawed off-shotgun and Charon gripped his combat shotgun tightly, ready for any threat made to Saige.

The ghoul growled at Charon, noticing he was a bodyguard type.

"Nothing." he only responded, wiping dirt from his duster jacket. It seemed similar to the Regulator's, but Saige could distinctively tell the difference by the customization.

"You wanna share some of that?" Saige grinned as the ghoul removed the bottle from his withered lips, narrowing his eyes and walking closer to the violet haired girl.

"And what makes you think I should share my rum with you?" he asked, trying to hold back a grin himself.

Saige withdrew her empty bottle of whiskey, which once held rum, as the ghoul couldn't suppress his laughter any longer.

"Because rum tastes better when shared." Saige clinked her bottle with the stranger's, as he filled her up, leaving them both with half a bottle of rum and bottoms up.

"If you say so..." He shrugged at her philosophy, being that he was quite fond of loneliness.

Charon had his combat shotgun held at bay, in case the ghoul made any slight move to harm Saige.

She may have been annoying from time to time but she was still his employer.

"What are your names anyway?" The man asked, glancing behind him into the pen where his precious brahmin picked at a patch of grass on the ground.

"I'm Saige, and this is Charon." Saige immediately said, a bit giggly and tipsy from the rum taking its effects.

"Charon, you say?" The man asked, raising what would be an eyebrow to inspect the ghoul from head to toe.

He only gave a grunt and took yet another drink.

"So what brings you here? The name's Jack, by the way. I doubt you'll forget it anytime soon." Jack smirked, as Saige gave a hearty laugh.

"The only _fun _egotistical prick in the Wasteland it seems." Saige commented, as Jack shrugged.

"You think so?" he asked, not thinking of himself in that light.

"It seems so." She repeated with a smile, one that seemed to be rather seductive.

"Don't believe things the way they seem." Jack said in a serious tone, throwing back another drink, frowning at his already empty bottle.

While they talked, Jack rooted around his shack for more rum, grumbling invites to Charon and Saige to come on in.

"Are you an addict?" Saige asked him, as he seemed to ignore her.

"Yes, I am." He admitted, as he found a bottle that had 1/3 of rum left, walking over to his couch in his shack to relax.

"That's good, the first step to recovering is admitting you have-" Saige began, as Jack threw the bottle in her direction, missing her and the bottle smashed against the wall beside her head.

"I don't have a problem, I'm simply an addict. A little Fixer will take care of it." Jack sighed, swirling the last of the contents of the liquid around before downing it entirely.

"Fixer only works temporarily. And we don't have it here in the Capital Wasteland, its only supplied locally out west in the Mojave." Charon commented suddenly, as Saige looked surprised.

Charon certainly didn't look like someone who knew the effects of addiction.

Jack seemed to smile more so than what would seem interesting to him.

"I tried to drown my sorrows but the bastards learned how to swim." Jack replied in a snarky attitude, earning a chuckle from Saige.

"Either way, that's my problem, not yours. What brought you across my little piece of heaven?" Jack asked, as Saige thought he was quickly sobering up.

"Nothing much, I literally ran into it. Rum is nice, ain't it?" Saige asked, feeling the unfortunate effects of her hangover.

"Indeed so." Jack smiled, making Saige question if he was actually sober or not.

It seemed his snarkiness is a fault of the addiction.

"It's refreshing to find someone like you in the Wasteland, Jack. You seem to be so laid back and carefree." Saige smiled, putting his hands on her knees from the seat she was sitting on.

Jack gave a laughing scoff, shaking his head as he wiped his forehead as if there was sweat there. "Yeah, that's right. I'm unique, just like everyone else."

What he just said blew Saige's young mind, as she tried to comprehend what he just said, making Jack laugh.

"For once someone is kind enough to make me think I'm smart," he grinned, returning to leaning back in his chair.

"If I knew any better, I'd say I am. Street smarts are different. Reflexes, more like it." he shrugged to himself.


	10. Chapter 10: Dust In The Wind

**A/N: I've been having state testing for two weeks straight, so I apologize for the late update. I already had this chapter typed out but I can't find much time to even upload anymore. That and the fact that I'm working on an original story that I'm hoping to actually turn to into a book. **

* * *

Jack was about to open his mouth for yet another snarky comment when the sound of bullets ricocheting off his shack's roof was heard, and he sighed while he stood up, grabbing his sniper rifle in the meantime.

"The hell...?" Saige muttered, readying her own Assault Rifle in the meantime as Jack was already pushing open his door.

"Bet you all my rum its the same damn teenage raiders... They think they're so tough messing with an old 'zombie', I'll show them the pussies they are. Let them get near me, I'll introduce them to my Fat Man..." Jack growled, as Saige became cautious at the threat of a Fat Man.

"Yeah..." she muttered along, scared and following Jack with curiosity.

Saige ducked into the high pen where Jelly Bean the brahmin was kept, and pet her for close to ten minutes before she ran off to find and join Jack.

She was quite affectionate, surprisingly, and Saige was scared of a two-headed cow-like creature. Understandable, as it looked like the stuff nightmares are made of.

When she found him, Jack was found by Charon and they saw the addict hidden behind a large rock with his sniper rifle in his hands, a finger to his lips to signal silence.

Jack had found the raiders responsible for their disruption earlier and sighed, shuffling around his duster pockets for a frag grenade and biting off the pin with his teeth, throwing it right into the pocket of one of the raider's uniforms and killing the two instantly.

"I swear, everything's cool now except for having common sense. If kids took that instead of Jet, there would be no Wasteland..." Jack complained, giving a sigh as he put his rifle back up.

"No kidding." Saige agreed, knowing full well she was included in the group of 'kids' he was talking about, causing Jack to stare at her with a weird look.

The three continued their short walk back to Jack's Shack, as they saw a small mushroom cloud in the distance, in the direction they were walking in fact.

Jack looked distressed, as he ran in the direction with his arms open, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Saige and Charon looked at each other with strange expressions and proceeded in following him at his heels, before they came over the hill before they arrived at Jack's Shack, or what was left of it.

Some raiders had blown it up with a mini nuke, hence the mushroom cloud earlier.

Jack was weeping at the wreckage of his home, all his rum was now gone.

Saige glanced to the side, to see that Jelly Bean's pen was bent and open now, and that the brahmin was gone.

Jack walked over to the wreckage of the pen, a depressed look on his face.

"Jelly Bean, no..." he muttered, putting a flaccid hand on the pen, looking into the empty space where she once was.

"I think she's fine." Saige grinned, as Jack looked back to her with a depressed, lifeless expression, making Saige feel bad for even feeling happy.

"What I meant was-er... I forgot to lock her cage before I found you, I didn't know it locked until I saw the padlock just now... She probably got out before everything was blown up." Saige looked to her feet, as she suddenly felt herself being squeezed.

She looked up to see Jack hugging her tightly, a grin on his face in absent-mindedness of his rum being gone.

"That's great! She has more of my rum! I thought it was all gone, thank you!" Jack let go of the violet-haired girl when he noticed she was going the same color of her hair from lack of oxygen.

"Sorry 'bout that." Jack chuckled, grabbing both Saige's and Charon's hand and dragging them across the Wasteland. "Jelly Bean couldn't have gone far," said an enthusiastic Jack.

* * *

Jack was groaning from the heat, as Saige realized how annoying she must've been to Charon, as she acted the same way when they had to travel long distances.

In this case, they hadn't travel very far whatsoever, the wreckage of the shack was still a dot on the horizon.

"Are we almost there?" Jack asked for the thousandth time within three minutes, as Saige tried to restrain herself from killing the ghoul.

"Are we there ye-" Jack asked again, as Saige suddenly turned around and hit Jack over the head with the butt of her Assault Rifle, yelling at him.

"We are nearly there, calm your fucking tits already!" Saige growled, turning around and drinking a rum she had pick-pocketed off him in the process.

They hadn't traveled very far at all when they saw a small brown speck in the distance, and Jack looked like he just taken some Jet himself, running faster than life itself.

"Baby, you're back! You scared me to death! Don't ever leave me again! Where did I put the rum..." Jack yelled in happiness, searching the packs on the brahmin's back for rum, finding some eventually and sitting down near his prized pet.

Saige gave a laugh, she liked how goofy Jack was.

"Everything in the Wasteland isn't sunshine and rainbows." Charon muttered in annoyance, just under Saige's range of hearing.

"What'd you say?" asked a curious Saige, as Charon shook his head.

_"Saige is going to get herself killed this way, one of these days," _Charon thought, wanting to just shake some sense into the young girl.

_"But that's exactly what she is. Young. Can't exactly have much sense at her age..." _Charon looked at his fellow ghoul, narrowing his eyes to get a good look at him.

He had changed a lot since Charon last saw him, but then again, last time the two had spoke, it wasn't on good terms.

And the fact that Charon hadn't been able to have the power to talk to him freely.

* * *

_"C'mon now, Jack. You just need to pay up the caps on your tab and you can walk out of those doors freely." Ahzrukhal leaned on the counter, his hand out and waiting for his promised caps. "I don't think so, Ahzzie. I told you I'd pay up someday, but today is not that day. I believe it's Tuesday, actually." Jack smirked, his ego and smartass attitude at a all-time high while he was under the roof of the bar. "Oh really? I don't think Charon will agree with you." Ahzrukhal nodded in Charon's direction, as Charon came out from his usual spot of the bar, loading up his combat shotgun and holding it to Jack's back, as Jack had turned around to see Charon there. "I can see he doesn't share my views. I, however, would appreciate it if you would let me pass, dear Charon." Jack smiled, his hand up over his head as Charon gave a grunt, to say no. Charon was wanting to let him go through, anything for Ahzrukhal to lose a few goddamn caps. "I suppose that's a no. Fine, here's your caps. Hope you choke on them, asshat." Jack threw his caps down on the counter, storming out the door with a sour look on his face._

* * *

Charon had regretted acting in such a way towards Jack, even if he hadn't liked him personally.

Those were in the days right before Saige was brought into the Underworld, dipping slightly into the days where Saige was asleep in the office of The Chop Shop.

Charon always held a grudge against him, as Jack knew Charon hated Ahzrukhal and his slavery to him, and he had never freed him.

He was rich enough, he had the caps, but yet he spent all his earnings on rum, the selfish prick.

Charon was burst out of his thoughts as Saige stumbled into him, obviously she had dipped into his rum stash and an oblivious Jack hadn't noticed that one of his rum bottles was gone, which you would think he would notice immediately.


End file.
